Dong Xian (董賢) (22 BC – 16 August 1 BC[1]) was a Chinese Han dynasty politician who quickly rose from obscurity as a minor official to being the most powerful official in the imperial administration of Emperor Ai within a span of a few years, and he had both the interest and the complete trust of the emperor.

[2] Most scholars agree that Dong's quick career advancement came mostly because of his personal relationship with Emperor Ai, very likely a romantic and sexual one, rather than a demonstration of abilities.

An idiomatic term for homosexuality in Chinese is duanxiu zhi pi (斷袖之癖, literally, "passion of the cut sleeve"), derived from an episode involving Dong and Emperor Ai.

Emperor Ai also made Dong's sister an imperial consort (with the prestigious title zhaoyi (昭儀)), ranked just below his wife Empress Fu.

In 4 BC, informants Xifu Gong (息夫躬) and Sun Chong (孫寵) had, through the eunuch Song Hong (宋弘), reported that Liu Yun (劉雲), the Prince of Dongping, was using witchcraft; as a result, Prince Yun was demoted to commoner status and committed suicide.

Later that year, over Prime Minister Wang Jia's objection, Emperor Ai created the three of them marquesses.

A good number of officials tried to curb Dong's power by begging Emperor Ai not to overly reward him, and they suffered for it.

[2] Grand Empress Dowager Wang took decisive action; she proceeded to Weiyang Palace and seized the imperial seal.

The entire Dong clan was exiled to Hepu (合浦, in modern Zhanjiang, Guangdong) and their assets forfeited to the imperial treasury.